Random crap by Dave Rutt

Bookmarks for March 5th through March 10th

You’ve got to hand it to Google: when it threw its toys out of the pram over its dispute with PRS For Music, it immediately won the PR war. On blogs, boards and Twitter the consensus is: hurrah for Google! It’s sticking it to The Man!

When Napster came along in 1999, one big record company – BMG – wanted to find a way to harness the power of the internet. The other major record companies sued Napster – and eventually, sued BMG, too – starting an unwinnable war with dodgy downloads that continues to this day.

Now, like General Motors, the record companies are hurting – and like General Motors, they want the government to save them. GM wants cash; the record companies want ISPs to act as their policemen, while the Digital Britain report suggests a broadband tax to create a new organisation to fight piracy and find new and exciting ways for DRM to annoy us.

“Alcohol is evil. We know this because it is True. And it’s especially bad for women because, well, women shouldn’t drink. If you run a study to confirm this belief and the facts don’t back you up, the facts are wrong. So tell the public the Truth (alcohol is always evil) and bury the facts; the press won’t be able to tell the difference because they’re (a) lazy (or overworked, take your pick) and (b) statistically innumerate.”